The Life-giving Word
The Word of God a
Living Word
What is the nature
of the Word of God?
“For the word
of God is living and
active. Sharper
than any double-edged sword,
it penetrates even to the dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it
judges the thoughts and attitudes of
the heart.” Hebrews
4:12.
How are the oracles
of God described?
“He was in the
assembly in the desert, with the
angel who spoke to him on Mount
Sinai, and with our fathers, and he
received living words to
pass on to us.” Acts 7:38
What was
Peter’s testimony concerning
Christ’s words?
“Simon Peter
answered him, “Lord to whom
shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life.” John
6:68.
What did the Savior
declare His Father’s commandment
to be?
“I
know that his command leads to
eternal life. So whatever I say is
just what the Father has told me to
say.” John 12:50.
The Word Compared to
Food
What lesson was
intended by feeding the children of
Israel with the manna?
“He humbled
you, causing you to hunger and then
feeding you with manna, which neither
you nor your fathers had known, to
teach you that man
does not live on bread alone but
every word that comes from the mouth
of God.” Deuteronomy
8:3.
What instance is
recorded of one who fed upon the true
manna?
“When your
words came, I ate them; they were
my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name, O Lord God
Almighty.” Jeremiah 15:16.
What reference did
Jesus make to this same manna of
life?
Jesus answered, “It
is written, ‘Man does not live
on bread alone, but on
every word that comes
from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4: 4.
How did the Word of
God become food to Jesus?
“My
food,” said Jesus, Is
to do the will of him who
sent me and to finish
his work.”
John 4:34.
Jesus As the Living
Word
What name is applied
to Jesus as the revelation of the
thought of God in the flesh?
“In the beginning
was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the
beginning.” John 1:1.
“And he was
dressed in a robe dipped in blood,
and his name is the Word of
God.”
Revelation 19:13.
What did this Word
become?
”The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us. We have
seen his glory, the glory of the One
and Only, who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth. John 1:14.
What was in the
Word?
“In him was life,
and that life was the light of
men.” Verse 4.
What was Jesus
therefore also called?
“That which was
from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our
own eyes, which we have looked at and
our hands have touched – this we
proclaim concerning the Word
of life.” 1 John 1:1.
Jesus As the Living
Word
What did Jesus
declare Himself to be?
Then Jesus declared, “I
am the bread of life. He
who comes to me will never go hungry,
and he who believes on me will never
go thirsty.” John 6:35.
What did He suggest
that men should do with Him, the
Bread of Life?
“Just
as the living Father has sent me and
I live because of the Father, so
the one who
feeds on me will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from
heaven. Your forefathers ate manna
and died, but he who
feeds on this bread will live
forever.” John
6:57, 58.
What did Jesus
really mean by eating His flesh?
“The
Spirit gives life; the flesh counts
for nothing. The words I have spoken
to you are spirit and
they are life.” Verse
63.
Note – Thus we
clearly understand that to eat the
flesh of the Son of God is to live by
His words. As one has said, “He
who by faith receives the word is
receiving the very life and character
of God.”
The Table of the Lord
What grand privilege
do we have?
“Who have tasted
the goodness of the word of God and
the powers of the coming age.”
Hebrews 6:5.
What glorious
invitation is extended to all?
“Taste and
see that the Lord is good; blessed is
the man who takes refuge in
him.”
Psalm 34:8.
How are we instructed
to pray for both physical and
spiritual nourishment?
“Give
us today our daily
bread.” Matthew 6:11.
Note – When
“the Word became flesh, and
dwelt among us,” the thought of
God was revealed in human flesh. When
holy men “spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit,” the
thought of God was revealed in human
language. The union of the divine and
the human in the manifestation of
God’s thought in the flesh is
declared to be “the mystery of
godliness,” and there is the
same mystery in the union of the
divine thought and human language.
The two revelations of God, in human
flesh and in human speech, are both
called the Word of God,
and are both are the Word of
Life. He who fails to find Christ
thus in the Scriptures will not be
able to feed upon the Word as the
life-giving Word.
